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At the BGS Scientific Meeting in Harrogate, I was elected as Chair of the BGS Trainees Committee, picking up the baton from Zoe, who will be a tough act to follow.

Having said that, I am not alone and welcome several new members onto the management committee with me.

I must say a big thank you to Peter Burbridge for his continued updating of the trainees section of the BGS website.

To introduce myself, I am currently an ST5 trainee in the West Midlands, having been inspired to specialise in geriatric medicine in south east London. I try to keep myself sane with singing, hot yoga and Norwich City Football Club. I look forward to working with all the committee over the next 2 years.

Plans are well underway for a national trainees meeting. This is scheduled for 27 and 28 February 2010 and will be in Manchester to allow ease of access for all, so make a note in your diary. We have an excellent programme planned. Sessions will be of interest to trainees of all levels and will include clinical and non-clinical topics, preparation for the forthcoming SCE, as well as sessions for those preparing for consultant job application. There will of course be an important social element to the weekend as well. I would like to thank in advance, all those consultants who will be asked to give up their time for this important occasion.

The challenges ahead
We have some ongoing challenges and new issues to tackle. The uncertainty over dual accreditation for the ‘lost cohort’ (those trainees starting in 2003 and 2004) continues. Zoe’s hard work has led to an agreement to the principle of all trainees gaining a CCT in both GIM and Geriatric Medicine, but the process is not yet fully settled. I feel it is important that the process is fair and transparent, but not too onerous on a cohort that already feels a little put upon.

Specialty Certificate Examination (SCE)
The SCE is still at the forefront of many trainees’ minds. The first diet appears to have passed off successfully and I would expect a larger number to participate in the next sitting on 24 March 2010.

The meeting chaired by Dr Corrado in Harrogate was both welcome and informative. Certain issues remain unresolved however, and the recent nationwide technical problems affecting dermatology trainees in September this year is troubling, not to mention disappointing coming as it does from an £800 product. It would also be helpful if the colleges could enlighten us as to how the money we pay for the privilege of sitting the exam will be used once, as they anticipate, they break even in two years’ time.

Eportfolio
The eportfolio is an assessment tool with undoubted advantages, but we feel that it does not yet accommodate the complexities of our speciality. Fundamental to this is the work place based assessments which continue to be far too rigid for trainees and trainers. We need to gauge trainee views on this and will have more information soon.

I look forward to my time in this post and hope to maintain the progress geriatric medicine trainees have made in recent years. Fundamental to a strong speciality is strong training and enthusiastic trainees. We need to continue to sell our specialty as challenging yet rewarding speciality so as to attract the strongest candidates to higher speciality training.

Thomas Jackson
Chair
Trainees Group

BGS Newsletter, November 2009
Issue 24 ISSN 1748-634000 24